The Houses of Roman Italy 100 B.C.- A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and Decoration - Rilegato

Clarke, John R.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0520072677 ISBN 13: 9780520072671

Casa editrice: Univ of California Pr, 1992

Riassunto

In this richly illustrated book, art historian John R. Clarke helps us see the ancient Roman house "with Roman eyes." Clarke presents a range of houses, from tenements to villas, and shows us how enduring patterns of Roman wall decoration tellingly bear the cultural, religious, and social imprints of the people who lived with them.

In case studies of seventeen excavated houses, Clarke guides us through four centuries of Roman wall painting, mosaic, and stucco decoration, from the period of the "Four Styles" (100 B.C. to A.D. 79) to the mid- third century. The First Style Samnite House shows its debt to public architecture in its clear integration of public and private spaces. The Villa of Oplontis asserts the extravagant social and cultural climate of the Second Style. Gemlike Third-Style rooms from the House of Lucretius Fronto reflect the refinement and elegance of Augustan tastes. The Vettii brothers' social climbing helps explain the overburdened Fourth-Style decoration of their famous house. And evidence of remodelling leads Clarke to conclude that the House of Jupiter and Ganymede became a gay hotel in the second century.

In his emphasis on social and spiritual dimensions, Clarke offers a contribution to Roman art and architectural history that is both original and accessible to the general reader. The book's superb photographs not only support the author's findings but help to preserve an ancient legacy that is fast succumbing to modern deterioration resulting from pollution and vandalism.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

John R. Clarke is Annie Laurie Howard Regents Professor, History of Art, at the University of Texas, Austin.

Dalla seconda/terza di copertina:

"Extensively documented with well-chosen, good quality photographs, Clarke's book effectively surveys these representative examples from the Late Republic to the Late Empire, illustrating the shift in the agendas of decoration as well as in the patterns of the lives played out behind closed doors within these highly charged domestic interiors."Richard Brilliant, author ofVisual Narratives: Storytelling in Etruscan & Roman Art

"An enlightening and engaging walk through Roman cultural history. . . .This book will be essential to anyone interested in the classical past, in artistic ensembles, or in the experience of architecture."Diane Favro, University of California, Los Angeles

"Real experts in Roman painting are few. This book should be very welcome to Roman art historians and social historians wanting to present this material to their students."Eleanor Winsor Leach, author ofThe Rhetoric of Space

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Univ of California Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0520072677
• ISBN 13: 9780520072671
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 450